Mbombela stalwart out of hospital after motorcycle accident

TJ Maré, the founder of We Care 4 Nelspruit, was recently discharged from hospital following a motorcycle accident involving a pothole on the R38 last Tuesday, March 21.

Maré sustained moderate internal injuries to his lower back and hip, but said he had avoided more serious injuries as was wearing a full kit of motorcycle protective gear at the time, including gloves, boots, pants, jacket and helmet.

He said he had been riding his motorcycle with a small team along the R38 Badplaas/Barberton road at 13:00 when his front wheel hit a deep pothole.

“There were two potholes in the road. I avoided the one, but hit the other. The front wheel collapsed and I went sliding,” said Maré.

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He said he was travelling at 93km/h when the accident occurred.

“I am always fully kitted in protective biking gear, and my injuries would have been much worse had I not been wearing it. It is so important to always wear your protective kit wherever you ride. I see many people riding motorcycles around Mbombela dressed in shorts and plakkies. People say it is because the Lowveld is so hot, but when riding a bike, you dress for the hit, not the heat.”

Maré said he had been discharged from the hospital on Friday March 24, but that he still had a follow-up appointment to attend soon, as well as a few sessions with physiotherapist for the muscle trauma he had sustained in the accident.

He said it was expected that he would be back at work by April 2.

As for the potholes, Maré said he has been driving a campaign for many months to have them fixed across Mbombela, and that he would fix the ones on the R38 himself in the coming weeks, if they were not repaired by Sanral soon.

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Sanral had not responded to a media query by Lowvelder regarding these potholes on the R38 by the time of going to press.

The Lowveld Motorcycle Safety Initiative (LMSI) also emphasised the importance of safety gear. LMSI’s Johan du Plessis said the initiative also noticed daily that many riders in Mbombela are travelling on their motorcycles without proper gear.

“We strongly recommend that people wear the correct gloves, helmets, boots, jackets and pants made especially for motorcyclists,” he said. “People need to take heed of TJ’s testimony as to why this is so important.”